Never Say Never
by Pepy Persona
Summary: Reality Fic: With the strange disappearence of her parents and the stress of starting at college, Elizabeth 'Buffy' Summers, thought there would be no light in her life, until a particular bleach blonde appears on the horizon. Spuffy Fic!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Joyce Harris wearily made her way down the stairs of the two-story house. Despite the Californian sunshine, cold rain streaked down the windows of the living room.

"How is she?"

Willow turned to her mother, pulling the blinds across the dismal scene outside.

"Resting. Poor girl, I wish we could do more."

The red head hugged her mother. "You've done more than enough. Xander's bringing Dawny home, and Buffy is very secure…considering the events. The most you can do now is sleep, and be there for her tomorrow."

Joyce looked at the flaming hair Willow had inherited from her father – admiring how beautiful her daughter had become. Kissing her forehead, Joyce turned and went along the hallway to her bedroom.

Upstairs, Willow peeped in at her blonde cousin sleeping in her room. Continuing along the corridor to Xander's room where she was sleeping, she recalled the death of her father, and knew exactly what Buffy was going through.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

When Buffy Summers had moved onto the campus of UC Sunnydale, her mother and stepfather had seemed sad to see her go, and Buffy had never expected anything unusual to happen. When she found a message on Faith's and her answering machine saying that the Summers had mysteriously disappeared from their home on Beverly Driveway, Buffy suddenly felt totally helpless inside the braver exterior formed around her.

Her kind aunt took her home with her, when she found her niece in her abandoned childhood home. As much as she missed them, Buffy had refused for her parent's disappearance to completely up-turn her life, and decided to return to her dorm room the next day.

"Buffy, are you sure this is the best idea?" Joyce looked at Buffy throught the car window.

"Yes. I don't want this to totally dominate my life. I need to free my mind a bit."

"Okay…. Remember, Willow's across the hall and I'm always free when you need me."

Buffy smiled and turned from the car, slipping her ID in the lock, entering the dorm as Joyce pulled out.

"Hey B."

Faith got up from the computer as Buffy came in. "You ok?"

"Yeah I'll be fine. I'm gonna take a shower and try to re-organize myself."

"Cool. Oh, that reminds me. We've got a new professor for ancient history. Rupert Giles. Mrs Burkensan left to have her twins."

"Thank God! That woman drives me crazy!"

Buffy picked up her robe and went down the hallway to the bathroom. Watching the water drip down the steamy tiles, she rinsed her hair out and let the heat of the water sooth her aching muscles. She quickly dried off, trying to focus on the term ahead, and not the questioning she expected from the police on her parents' disappearence.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

"Okay, that's all for today. Oh, Miss Summers, can I speak with you?"

"I'll see you at lunch Will."

Buffy approached the Professor at the front of the class. "Professor Giles? You wanted to see me?"

"Ah, Buffy. Yes."

Rupert Giles removed his glasses and wiped them on the end of his tie. Placing them back on his nose, he looked at the girl infront of him.

"You certainly have grown into a beautiful young woman."

"E..excuse me?"

"I am sorry, I knew your parents- actually became quite close before I left to England. You were only a baby of course."

"Oh," Buffy nodded and bit her lip at the thought of her parents.

"They loved you very much Buffy, and I just want you to know that I'm sorry for you're loss and if you need anything at al…."

"I know. Thank you." Buffy looked at him with a half smile.

He smiled back at her, and then looked at something over her head.

"Ah, William! Miss Summers, this is my son William."

Turning around, Buffy had to take a step backwards to look up at the man infront of her. She suddenly found herself lost in the deep blue eyes smiling down at her, and followed the contours of his face down the strong jawline, and to the rippling muscles underneath his thin t-shirt.

"Hey luv', nice to meet you." She jumped as she noticed his hand had been held out to her.

She took it and stammered a hello, hoping he hadn't noticed her gawking.

"Yes, well you better get to your next class Buffy." Giles' voice broke through Buffy's hazy daze, and she smiled up at the blonde before walking around him to the door.  
Glancing back as she closed the door behind her, she noticed William looking over his shoulder at her. Quickly darting out of view, she took a few deep breaths before heading to calculus.

"Come on Buffy. Get a grip girl!"

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

"So Xander is gonna bring Dawn down on Friday. We'll have to miss the frat party, but we could always try to head back before the end." Willow looked across the table at her troubled cousin. "Buffy? Are you listening?"

"Huh? What? Oh, sorry Will. What was that about Xander?"

"Buff, you've been staring at that coke can since we sat down! Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Sorry Wills, lost in my thoughts."

"So are you coming on Friday or not?"

"Yeah. I-I'll be there."  
…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Willow sat on Buffy's bed surrounded by books, with Buffy right next to her. Faith sat across from them, buried in a business studies textbook, tapping her pen on the side of her foot.

'Tap-tap-tap'  
Buffy glanced up at Faith  
'Tap-tap-tap'

"Ok Faith! What's up?"

"Huh? Nothing!"

"Faaiiith!"Buffy taunted in a singsong voice.

"What!"

Buffy sighed and looked at the doe-eyed brunette opposite her.

"I know something's on your…"

Just then the door flew open and a whirl of chestnut-hair flew into the room.

"Sorry I'm late girls, but I brought chips!"

"Gimmie! Hey Anya did you change your hair? AGAIN!" Faith questioned, clearly trying to put an end to the interrogation session.

"Stop changing the subject Faith." Pushed Buffy.

"B! Nothing is up!"

"Oh yeah..?" said Anya. "I'm guessing you haven't told them about Robin yet then?"

"Robin?" Willow was suddenly showing some interest in the conversation.

"Yep. Faithy here has gone head over heels for Giles's son! Aaand the new class assistant!"

"Oh my God!" screeched Willow, throwing a cushion towards Faith.

"Robin? Giles's son is called William."

"Oooo! Who's William Buffy!" teased Willow.

"He's..no one."

Just then the chimes of Buffy's mobile echoed through the screeches and Buffy gave a relived sigh as she picked up. No number- she was suppose to inform the police when this happened…. what the hell.

"Guys shut up. Hello?"

"Hey, Buffy?"

"Speaking."

"Hey, it's William."

Her stomach did a quick lurch as she remembered those deep pools staring down at her, and she sat up from the lounging position she'd adopted.

"William. Hey, erm…how did you get my number?"

"Some girl named Anya gave it to me? Said she knew you."  
"Oh right" Buffy looked up at Anya, who raised her eyebrows and smirked.

"Look, Buffy. I was wondering if you were going to the frat party on Friday, cos if you are I was wondering if I could maybe walk you over or pick you up or…"

'God man stop babbling!'

"…Yeah."

"Sure, Friday sounds great."

At the sound of Friday Willow frantically started waving her arms in Buffy's direction.

"Oh! Oh, I'm sorry William, I can't come to the party, my sister's coming home from Canada and I have to meet her."

"Right. Ok. Well how about a movie next week?"

"Even better! I'll see you then?"

"Yeah, I'll call you."

"Ok..bye William."

"Call me Spike."

"Bye…Spike."

Buffy sighed contentedly as she hung up, and turned around to be bombarded with pillows by her grinning friends.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Xander Harris struggled to view the motorway through the monsoon running down his windscreen. All evidence of other travellers had disappeared as they neared the final stretch into Sunnydale.

"Come on Xander! I'm gonna be going back before we even reach Sunnydale."

"I'm trying but since this storm set in it's hard to tell what's what." Xander spared a look over at the exasperated teen in his passenger seat. Dawn was paler than he'd ever seen her, and her light brown eyes had lost their usual sparkle.

"We're in an off-road 4x4! These things are designed to drive through swamps, let alone highways!"

"Alright, alright." Xander pressed the accelerator slightly, moving up to 40mph. "We're almost there Dawnie. You wanna give Buffy a call and tell her?"

"Yeah ok." Dawn leaned forward to take Xander's mobile from by the radio, when the car suddenly lurched and dipped down on one side.

"Shit!" Xander pulled over and slammed the steering wheel with his hands.

"W…what was that?" Dawn asked, fear creeping into her voice.

"We've got a flat", replied Xander. "And I don't have a spare."

"Great! I'll call Buffy." Dawn fumbled with the phone. "What's the number again?"

Back in Sunnydale, the phone rang twice before Joyce picked up.

"Harris and Summers residence, Joyce speaking."

"Auntie Joy?"

"Dawn? Dawn are you ok? Are you with Xander?" Joyce was panicking, not knowing what was going on out in the storm.

"C…can you put Buffy on?" Dawn was now sounding scared, and Joyce quickly handed the phone over to Buffy.

"Dawnie? Sweetie are you okay? Are you on your way home?"

"We were, but the tyres gone flat, a…and there's no one else around, and Xander left the spare at home."

Trying to calm the teen, Buffy motioned to Joyce to get Willow from the kitchen. "Ok honey, Will and I are going to come get you. Can you put Xander on the line for me?"

There was a muffling sound as the phone was handed across, then:

"Buffster?"

"Xander. Are you both okay?"

"Ye…who'd of thought an off-roader could get a flat on the frickin motorway!" The line cracked up as Xander laughed down the phone.

Buffy couldn't help but smile at Xander's offhand view on the situation. "Xander you're breaking up. Me and Willow are going to come with the spare okay? We won't be long."

"No worries. Over and out Buff."

The line went dead, and Buffy grabbed her coat as she quickly briefed Willow and Joyce.

"I told you we couldn't trust Xander with the responsibility. He never carries a spare!" Willow joked, trying to lighten the mood.

The windscreen wipers on Willow's red beadle were having no effect on the buckets of rain been thrown from the road and sky around them.

"Did Xander have any idea how far out they were?" asked Willow peering out into the dark.

"No, but they can't be far if they set off early from the motel."

Buffy looked out at the growing storm that had wiped out the usual dusty Californian landscape surrounding Sunnydale. Willow's mobile began ringing in her pocket. Quickly unzipping it, Willow threw it across to Buffy.

"It's Xander," said Buffy studying the number. "Hello?"

"Buffy! You two better look out, a station wagon just passed at full speed. It looked out of control!"

"What? O god."

Hearing the panicked voice on the other end of the phone, Willow waved for the phone. "Will, apparently there's an out-of-control wagon coming for us."

"What!" Willow dared a look a look over at Buffy as she took the phone, fear edging her dark eyes.

"Look, don't panic guys it could be a false alarm, just be careful." Said Xander struggling to hear through the terrible signal. At the other end he could hear them panicking and then a shout before the line went dead.

"_What does he mean out of control!" asked Willow, her voice rising to a squeak, as she tried to concentrate on the road._

"_I don't…Willow look out!"_

_The large tank hit them side on and sent the small careering into the ditch. Buffy's vision went black._

"What's happened? Has something happened?" asked Dawn, studying the blank expression on Xander's face as he got back in the car, soaked through.

"Dawn…I…" Xander looked at the scared little girl, hiding behind Dawn's tough exterior. He knew very well that they'd been hit. They were his best friends, he knew everything. " Buffy's coming."

Groaning Willow pulled herself upright, hitting her head sharply on Buffy's window. Rubbing her head Willow looked around, panic rising as she realised the car was on its side, and a blonde head was in her lap.

"Oh God! Oh God, oh God. Buffy wake up. Please wake up!"

Putting two fingers to her neck Willow felt a pulse and gently tried to raise her head up. Buffy groaned and her eyes fluttered open.

"Willow?" Remembering what had happened Buffy sat up and looked at her cousin. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, at least I think so. A bit bruised."

Rubbing her neck, Buffy examined the door above her, before giving it a sharp punch. The door flew open, and Buffy pulled herself out into the rain before reaching back in for Willow. Stretching herself out, Willow looked around and remembered the other driver.

Buffy leaned back into the car and retrieved the remains of Willow's phone. Throwing it back into the wreak, she turned as Willow solemnly walked back from the wagon.

"The driver is dead. Broken neck."

Buffy consciously rubbed her own neck, before looking back at the red head. Willow gave her one of her half smiles, before they both turned and headed up the road.

Xander sat with his head in his hands. He hated been there, he wanted to be out helping them. Keeping Dawn happy was to be his main priority, it was what Buffy would have wanted.

"Xander…I think I'm seeing things." Dawn's voice piped up from next to him.

"Dawnie.." was Xander's muffled reply.

"Really," she strained to see out into the dark. "There are. There's two people walking towards us."

"What?" Xander sat up and looked out to see two shadows coming out of the rain. Leaping out of the car he shouted out, "Buffy, Willow?"

At the sound of his voice, the two figures sped up, and suddenly the two women came flying out of the rain and into Xander's arms.

"Buffy!" Dawn leapt out of the jeep and into her sister's embrace.

Xander examined his sister and cousin. Willow had a large cut down her cheek, and he could see blood coming from under the arm of her coat. Buffy had had a slight limp, and a large gash across the top of her chest.

"What happened to you two?" Dawn asked, watching her sister rub her neck again.

"Err…well the car is kind of…"

"Broken?" Offered Willow.

"Yeah. I hate to say it but we're all stranded. The spare tyre was crushed in the car, and there's some guy lying dead in his truck about 10 minutes down the road."

"What!" squeaked Dawn.

Xander quickly hustled them all into the car and put the radiator up full blast, before turning to Buffy.

"I think Mr Giles is our best bet?"

"Mr Who? Had how did you..?" Xander asked her in shock.

"It was written on your face. Giles is our new history professor – he said he'd help with any problems."

"And you just happen to know his number?" piped up Willow from next to her. "And hadn't we better phone mum?"

"Phone Joyce. She can get the number off my mobile."

"Right, ok…" said Xander, typing in his home number. "Ma? Hey there's been a slight delay…"

As Xander explained to his mother all that had happened in the past hour, Buffy leaned forward to look at her little sister curled up in the seat in front of her. She had lost all the colour in her complexion, and her mascara had started running from been out in the rain.

"Right. Mum is phoning Mr Giles and asking him to pick us up. She's also phoning the police about the crash." Xander reported cheerily, trying to keep everyone's hopes up, despite shivering violently himself.

20 minutes later a black convertible pulled up next to the jeep. Buffy jumped out but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the driver.


End file.
